Wednesday, December 26, 2007

After years of absence, I have returned to the fun and joyful waste of time by receiving yearly ICC membership as a long awaited Christmas gift. ChessPlanet has served as a great free alternative in the last couple of years, but I was looking for strong opposition (not that I could beat everyone on ChessPlanet, but still), less time waiting for a game, more responsive UI (where some crazy people can make 10 moves in one second), easier pgn export, and all in all - better online experience. Holidays can be a great time indeed!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The holidays are coming, and I had a bit of free time today. I pulled out my chessboard and went through a few games (the Sveshnikov, of course) from a real chess book. Yes, you read it right, I was reading a physical chess book on a physical chess board!! 2 AM on a Friday night is a perfect time for this kind of activity.

Studying chess on a computer may seem more productive, but it is actually way less efficient as a learning exercise, because of all the distractions (i.e. web browser) and temptations (i.e. analysis engine) that prevent from focusing on what matters - thinking deep about a position on the board, pausing to consider the plans for both sides, etc. Not dedicating any time to 2 am analysis on a real chess board, combined with lack of practice is what really halted my progress in the last 5+ years. Sigh..

15... Rb8 Black hopes in this position to compensate the weakness of the 'a5' pawn by putting pressure on the 'b' pawn. He also intends to play 'around' the d5 knight, by playing f5 (with g6 or not) and opening up the position for two bishops.
16. b3 Kh8 17. O-O g6 18. Qe2 The queen protects e4 pawn, and this move also allows Rf1 to come to d1 or a1. In 1998 Judit Polgar played 18. Kh1 in her game against Kramnik
18... Bd7 19. Rfa1 This ties down Nc6 to defence of the a5 pawn. The rook however leaves the kingside so if the 'f' file opens up, White may face challenges with defending f2 square. also possible is 19. Ra2f5 20. f3Bh6
19... Bh6 20. g3 Kramnik believes this move unnecessarily weakens the kingside. It`s hard to disagree!
20... f5 21. exf5 gxf5 22. b4 e4 This frees up the e5 square for the knight and Black's attack on the kingside starts to look real.
23. bxa5 an attempt to attack on the kingside would backfire for white: 23. Qh5Bg7 24. Nf4Ne5 25. b5Nf3+ 26. Kg2Rf6 27. Rxa5Rh6